"Illyria is a name that has been applied to the western part of the Balkan Peninsula but the origins of the Illyrians remain unclear. Archaeology has, though, been a little more helpful in explaining who the Illyrians were and ancient writings have provided clues as to their origins."

Man, that thing is freaking awesome. For the first time EVER, I am getting a distinct urge to hop on a plane to Bosnia to volunteer at this thing. I mean, come on, its base is 100m wider than the pyramid at Giza! And its so well disguised, it looks like a freaking mountain! Who knows what secrets it holds?

I am Bosnian myself, so I've been keeping a close eye on this. The latest news I've heard on this is that satellite imaging does conclude there is a solid structure under the hill. At this point they've started digging to make final confirmation.

Gotta say, this looks deeply fishy to me. I'm unfamiliar with the specific site, but just looking at the documentation makes me very suspicious. The project director is called an "explorer"; I don't see any explicit mention of professional archaeologists involved (although there may be); but most of all, there's the very dodgy suggestions of connections to Egypt and Mesoamerica, topped off with the logo which calls it the "Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun" with a drawing of an obviously Mesoamerican platform mound. I don't doubt that there could be archaeological site(s) at that location, but the interpretations being suggested are needlessly tabloidy at the least. I'll need to look into it further before being sure.

Despite the BBC and MSNBC articles (which appear to be very loose with the term "archaeologist"), I'm going to have to conclude that this is pretty nutty. Based on what's on the "foundation"'s website, there's nothing to justify any of his claims. First, he's clearly not an archaeologist (MSNBC refers tohim an "American businessman", despite what the press is calling him). The discussion of "Bosnian stone balls" is incoherent, trying to claim cultural origin for what are pretty clearly naturally eroded rocks. Most importantly, the identification of the "pyramids" is a cluttered mess, using logic and "evidence" little better than that used by the folks who insist on seeing pyramids and carved faces on the surface of Mars. It's basically like looking at clouds and seeing the face of Elvis. Very weak, I must say.

Good job airing both sides of the issue, guys, but let's keep personal comments about the individuals involved to a minimum, OK?

After reading these sources, it looks to me like the Illyrian pyramid theory is roughly as credible as the "history" told in the Holy Blood, Holy Grail book. Entertaining stuff and fun to speculate about the underlying ideas, but not to be taken too seriously.

I was very skeptical of this the first time it appeared on the board, but didn't want to say anything since it was just a fun tie-in news item here. This amateur archeologist is trying to create a major tourist attraction in Bosnia, IMO. Bosnia could really *use* a major tourist attraction, since it's the very poor, horribly polluted, former industrial province of the former Yugoslavia. Its only remaining significant natural resource is lumber, which is disappearing so fast over the borders to illegal logging that the country could be effectively deforested inside a decade. I don't know if this entrepreneur even really believes this is a pyramid, but I wish him luck in finding a tourist-attracting neolithic structure, which is of course not impossible.

Here's some fun stuff from the discoverer's website about the results of his studies of the Maya:

"The spiritual Maya knew about and respected the knowledge which was emitted by the Sun. These cosmic emissions came in cycles which modern astronomers refer to as “Sun spots”.

"Much of what is cosmic knowledge is transmitted through the hierarchy from the center of the galaxy (Hunab Ku) via a star (in our case, our Sun) on to the planet... The Sun receives the information from the center of the galaxy and then passes it on to the planets under its protection."

"Many cultures around the world, from India, Sumeria, Egypt, Peru, the Indians of North and Central America, the Inca and the Maya, call themselves the “Children of the Sun” or the “children of light.” Their ancestors, the civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria, erected the first temples on energy potent point of the Planet. Their most important function was to serve as a gateway to other worlds and dimensions."

"The arrival of our solar system at the starting point toward the center of the Milky Way galaxy, when we will again be enlightened with bundles of energy… is something which was confirmed by modern astronomers about fifteen years ago."

So what's not to believe? I'm looking forward to those bundles of enery myself.

In all this a must point out that there is a very side to this. This site is clearly of some sort of historic importance and should be excavated. But the thing about archeological excavation is that they have to be conducted with care, they are a bit like those CSI investigations on TV context is everything and they have to be done professionally. If they are not carried out professionally there is a real risk that we will never be abele to piece together what happened on that hill we would only get stock with a bunch of artifacts and no clue how they piece together.

Personally I try to separate the conclusions from the evidence. There may be remains of a pyramid there. Does it mean that there is not because someone asserts that it is 10,000 years old or that it was used for some unbelievable purpose or built by aliens?

I'll wait and see. That stone work looks pretty interesting, but of course pictures can lie. In the interview with whatever magazine that was, he admitted he was not an archeologist. I hope his team did not do too much damage to the site and that he gets professionals in there as he says he is doing. On the other hand there is a town there and apparently has been one for thousands of years. I would assume people have been damaging the site in the normal course of living since the first one showed up on the scene...the one whose life we would most love to find remnants from. ;-)

It will be interesting to see how this pans out and if there is anything to it.

I was just reading about this yesterday. This isn't credible. No archaeologist with actual training has investigated this site yet, and the chief "explorer" has written a book about it in which he talks about the powers of pyramids, and basically seems pretty irrational. There may be something there, but as of yet, I don't believe anything that guy says about it. Hopefully, a real archaeologist will check the site out.